Aung San

Aung San (13 February 1915-19 July 1947), born Htein Lin, was the Minister of War of Burma from 1943 to 1945 and Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council (Prime Minister) from 1946 to 1947. Aung San was a leader of the independence movement in Burma and was assassinated in a coup in 1947; he was succeeded by friend U Nu.

Biography
Aung San was born on 13 February 1915 in Natmauk, Magwe, in British India (present-day Burma) as Htein Lin. His father U Pha was a lawyer, and his grandfather Bo Min Yaung fought against the United Kingdom's annexation of Burma in 1886. Htein Lin took on the name of Aung San while leading a student movement in the 1930s and 1940s, leading the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League alongside U Nu. Aung San's anti-imperialist views and independentist views led to Aung San and U Nu fighting the British during World War II alongside Japan. Aung San led the Burmese during their resistance against the British as the Minister of War (1943-1945), but in 1944 he defected to the British and assisted in their repulse of the Japanese from the country by September 1945.

Death
In 1946, he became Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council (Prime Minister) of the semi-independent Burma and in July of 1947 he met with the British to discuss the rehabilitation of Burma. On 19 July 1947 he met with the Executive Council in the Secretariat Building of Downtown Rangoon. British Army captain David Vivian supplied guns to U Saw, the former Prime Minister, who wanted to gain full independence from Britain by killing Aung San. Aung San and six cabinet members were massacred by the paramilitary forces, and U Saw was executed soon after.